At this point, the game is about 1/10 of the way to the Top 100, so it has a long way to go yet. Even so, it has received a lot of votes, so thank you to everyone who has voted "yes" so far. Looking strictly at the numbers, I have to say that if even half of the people who voted "yes" would buy the game from me directly, it would completely pay for the development cost and go a long way toward funding a third episode. So if you want to support me and don't mind purchasing the game directly, it would be greatly appreciated!

If you do purchase Dirk Dashing 2 directly from me, send me an e-mail and let me know that you saw it here and chose to buy it. In appreciation, I'll give you a free copy of the 128-page strategy guide containing full color level maps, walkthroughs, conceptual art, and more! You can find both the game and the guide at www.dirkdashing.com. Thanks again!

The Steam price will probably be the same as it is on www.dirkdashing.com, which is currently $9.99 USD.

4) I don't like the artwork. Will you change it?

Sorry, no. Not unless you want to help fund it. I'm a one-man indie developer with a very small budget. I don't like that situation any better than you do, but that's the reality of it. The full version of Dirk Dashing 2 has 45.3 MB of graphics. There are 24 different animated characters (including Dirk) with up to 60 unique animation frames per character, 5 different worlds (each with at least 4-6 unique texture sets), 10 parallax scrolling layers (with 4 different sets of graphics per layer, depending on which world you're in), over 50 different scenic objects (tables, potted plants, factory machines, etc), plus various items, doors, switches, platforms, bridges, hazards, effects, etc. I estimate this art would cost over $50K if I paid someone else to do it.

That said, I did allocate $3K (all I could afford) for key art pieces, like the game logo, ad/promo graphics, and a few specific in-game graphics. The rest I did myself.

Contrary to what you might think, I do have some art training and talent - my specialty is comics (which is why all of my games have a comic/cartoon style to them). My comic art style is a cross between Disney, Looney Tunes, and Asterix. The Dirk Dashing games were my first attempts at animating my comic characters, so I grant that the animation could be better. And parts of the background art aren't as nice as I'd like them to be. But I like comics and animated cartoons, so even if I could afford to pay someone else to do the art, I would have hired a comic artist and/or cartoon animator, which means the game would still look cartoonish. That's my style, and that's what I like. I understand if you don't like that style, and that's fine. As an indie, I make my games for myself first, based on what I like to play and the kind of art I prefer. If others enjoy the games too, then that's bonus to me. If you like cartoon graphics, but don't like my art style, I understand that too - unfortunately, there's not much I can do about that right now, except to keep improving my craft and hope that maybe someday I'll be able to afford to hire a professional artist.

Still, I know plenty of popular indie games with art that's much more primitive than mine. If you can look past the art in those games and enjoy them anyway, hopefully you can do the same with mine. Like them, I'm just one guy doing the best I can. I try to make up for the lack of AAA-quality graphics with a good story, fun gameplay, and humor.